MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Spain criticizes Argentina for trying to intercept fishing vessel when leaving Montevideo

“It’s a mistake from the Argentine authorities”, said Spanish ambassador Aurora Diaz-Rato

Spanish ambassador in Uruguay Aurora Diaz-Rato criticized Argentina following an incident with an Argentine Coast Guard unit which tried to intercept a Spanish flagged vessel when exiting Montevideo en route to the Falkland Islands.

“It’s a mistake from the Argentine authorities. They have no right because there is free navigation for Spanish vessels in international waters”, said the Spanish ambassador to a local channel news program.

Ms Díaz-Rato added that “we are waiting for information from the Uruguayan government”, referred to the attempt by an Argentine Coast Guard to challenge and board the Spanish fishing vessel “Villa Nores” when it was leaving the port of Montevideo.

The 350 tons “Villa Nores” belongs to Pesquerías Nores Marín, from the port of Vigo and normally catches in the South Atlantic.

This is not the first incident of this kind that has occurred lately with Spanish vessels operating from Montevideo and with fishing licences awarded by the Falklands’ government.

The commander of the Uruguayan Navy Alberto Caramés said that during the incident a Uruguayan naval air patrol followed the Spanish vessel when it rerouted from the shared waters of the River Plate to Uruguay full jurisdiction waters until it reached the high seas.

Caramés said that the Uruguayan air patrol “protected the free navigation right of the Spanish vessel so it could reach high seas through Uruguayan jurisdiction”.

The Argentine Coast Guard “CG24 Mantillas” after unsuccessfully demanding the captain of “Villa Nores” to reveal information on the vessel and to prepare for a boarding party, equally followed it at 30 miles distance until international waters.

Besides the seriousness of the incident for Uruguay, Argentina, Spain and ultimately the Falkland Islands, it occurs at a very special moment for Spanish politics, since this week the outgoing Socialists will be replaced by the Conservatives from the Popular Party, headed by Mariano Rajoy.

Although the Spanish Conservatives have a more hard line on the Gibraltar dispute with Britain and only consider it a ‘bilateral issue”, (ignoring the people from the Rock), much in line with the Argentine approach on the Falklands, Mariano Rajoy comes from Galicia, where Spain’s vigorous global fishing industry is based and has traditionally been a stronghold of Conservatives.